The desorptivity model of bulk soil-water evaporation

Clapp, R. B.

Available models of bulk evaporation from a bare-surfaced soil are difficult to apply to field conditions where evaporation is complicated by two main factors: rate-limiting climatic conditions and redistribution of soil moisture following infiltration. Both factors are included in the "desorptivity model', wherein the evaporation rate during the second stage (the soil-limiting stage) of evaporation is related to the desorptivity parameter, A. Analytical approximations for A are presented. The approximations are independent of the surface soil moisture. However, calculations using the approximations indicate that both soil texture and soil moisture content at depth significantly affect A. Because the moisture content at depth decreases in time during redistribution, it follows that the A parameter also changes with time. Consequently, a method to calculate a representative value of A was developed. When applied to field data, the desorptivity model estimated cumulative evaporation well. The model is easy to calculate, but its usefulness is limited because it requires an independent estimate of the time of transition between the first and second stages of evaporation. The model shows that bulk evaporation after the transition to the second stage is largely independent of climatic conditions.

Document ID

19830027189

Acquisition Source

Legacy CDMS

Document Type

Contractor Report (CR)

Authors

Date Acquired

September 4, 2013

Publication Date

April 1, 1983

Subject Category

Report/Patent Number

Accession Number

83N35460

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Public

Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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